Written Answers Monday 20 August 2007

Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding is being made available to the Scottish Ambulance Service to enable it to improve emergency response times in areas such as Clydesdale.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Ambulance Service’s budget allocation from the Scottish Government for 2007-08 was £177.8 million, an increase of 6% on the baseline allocation for 2006-07. It is for the ambulance service to decide how to use that funding in providing emergency ambulance services, air ambulance services and patient transport services for the people of Scotland.

Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases have been reported to procurators fiscal under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases reported to procurators fiscal under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 have proceeded to court.

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases reported to procurators fiscal under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 have resulted in a guilty verdict.

Right Hon Elish Angiolini QC: As at 26 July 2007, 234 charges had been reported to procurators fiscal under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. These charges were contained in a total of 119 cases, involving 141 accused persons. The following table shows the outcome of all 234 charges so far.

  Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006: Charges

  

Instructions 
Outcome
Total


Court
Active
110


Convicted
21


Not Convicted
4


Not Prosecuted as a Separate Charge
19


Court Total
153


Direct Measure
Fiscal Fine Paid
1


Deferred to Reporter to the Children’s Hearing 
1


Warning
8


Direct Measure Total
10


No Action 
10


Decision Pending 
58


Grand Total 
234



  Notes:

  The information in this table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s Case Management Database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency the database will record details only of the amended charge.

  The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many disqualification orders have been issued under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

Right Hon Elish Angiolini QC: A disqualification order is one of the options available to the court on conviction. To date, court proceedings have been completed in 12 cases and four disqualification orders have been issued, banning convicted persons from keeping animals for periods ranging from five to 20 years.

Antisocial Behaviour

Nicol Stephen (Aberdeen South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has started to consult on a new role for communities in the process of applying for antisocial behaviour orders.

Fergus Ewing: We are already consulting informally through our engagements across Scotland over the summer recess. We will announce the terms and timescale of the review of our antisocial behaviour strategy in due course.

Antisocial Behaviour

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to renew funding support to local authorities for community warden schemes at the end of the current financial year.

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to increase the number of community wardens employed in Scotland.

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to continue funding the provision of community wardens in each local authority area.

Fergus Ewing: Scottish Executive funding to tackle antisocial behaviour is supporting community wardens in every local authority area in Scotland. It is for each local authority to decide how best to allocate the resulting grant across all their antisocial behaviour services, including community wardens, based on local needs and priorities.

  Funding for antisocial behaviour services will be considered as part of the forthcoming spending review.

Antisocial Behaviour

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-1960 by Kenny MacAskill on 5 July 2007, to what extent and in what ways local communities and victims of antisocial behaviour will be involved in the review process.

Fergus Ewing: The term of reference for the review of our national antisocial behaviour strategy, which will outline the review process, including engagement with local communities, will be announced shortly.

Antisocial Behaviour

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the powers available to police and local authorities to tackle antisocial behaviour.

Fergus Ewing: There are currently no plans to increase the powers available to the police or local authorities to tackle antisocial behaviour but we will consider the effectiveness of existing powers as part of the review of our national antisocial behaviour strategy.

Bankruptcy

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20071 by Hugh Henry on 8 November 2005, how many bankruptcies there have been in each year since 2005-06, broken down by sheriff court district.

Fergus Ewing: The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) maintains the Register of Insolvencies in Scotland. Details of the numbers of bankruptcies awarded by sheriffdoms by financial year are compiled by AiB and included in the annual report.

  The following table gives the number of bankruptcies for the financial years 2005-06 and 2006-07.

  Further information on bankruptcies is available in the Accountant in Bankruptcy’s Annual Report which is available at www.aib.gov.uk.

  

Sheriffdom (Sheriff Court)
Awards per Sheriff Court


2005-06
2006-07


Tayside, Central and Fife
 
 


Alloa
55
69


Arbroath
44
54


Cupar
76
65


Dundee
459
429


Dunfermline
198
191


Falkirk
229
231


Forfar
27
45


Kirkcaldy
264
247


Perth
179
170


Stirling 
76
75


 Total awards for Sheriffdom
1,607
1,576


South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 
 


Airdrie
324
313


Ayr 
124
147


Dumfries 
77
85


Hamilton 
367
408


Kirkcudbright
25
34


Lanark
54
64


Stranraer
34
39


Total awards for Sheriffdom
1,005
1,090


North Strathclyde 
 
 


Campbeltown
13
22


Dumbarton
132
176


Dunoon
13
22


Greenock 
77
82


Kilmarnock 
185
247


Oban
17
22


Paisley 
198
162


Rothesay
8
7


Total awards for Sheriffdom
643
740


Grampian, Highland and Islands
 
 


Aberdeen
315
252


Banff
20
16


Dingwall
28
32


Dornoch
6
3


Elgin 
76
106


Fort William 
29
28


Inverness 
60
92


Kirkwall 
18
20


Lerwick
9
12


Lochmaddy
7
4


Peterhead
64
76


Portree
11
22


Stonehaven
36
36


Stornoway
26
18


Tain
14
22


Wick
25
14


Total awards for Sheriffdom
744
753


Lothian and Borders
 
 


Duns
11
19


Edinburgh 
364
467


Haddington
108
117


Jedburgh
36
27


Linlithgow
193
184


Peebles
4
18


Selkirk
37
34


Total awards for Sheriffdom
753
866


Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 
 


Glasgow 
671
860


Total Awards
5,423
5,885



  Source: Accountant in Bankruptcy.

Culture

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow Region) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure continued funding for theatre.

Linda Fabiani: Funding for the performing arts in Scotland, including theatre, is disbursed by the Scottish Arts Council (SAC). Once I have set its overall budget, it is for the SAC to determine which organisations and bodies to fund. Further information about the work of the SAC is available at www.scottisharts.org.uk . The only exception is the funding of Scotland’s five national performing companies, which includes The National Theatre of Scotland. Previously, these companies received funding from the Scottish Arts Council, however, since the beginning of this financial year they have been funded directly by the Scottish Government.

Culture

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with the evaluation by Northumbria University’s Centre for Public Policy of the first three years of the youth music initiative.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Executive accepts the evaluation findings contained within the Scottish Arts Council Retuning report, which was published in March 2007.

Culture

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has of "patchiness of accessibility" in respect of the youth music initiative, as stated by the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture at the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee on 27 June 2007 ( Official Report c. 26).

Linda Fabiani: I used this phrase within the context of the information available on the percentage of children learning a musical instrument compared to those who received vocal coaching. I also earlier referred to anecdotal reports that I had heard, concerning the methods used by schools to inform parents of the opportunities available to them, and the effectiveness of these methods in ensuring accessibility for all.

Culture

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that a scheme similar to the Venezuelan El Sistema project can be complementary to the youth music initiative.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Executive understands that both the Youth Music Initiative and the Venezuelan music project have at their core the aim to widen access to musical opportunities for children and young people.

Culture

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current level of funding for Scottish Opera will be reviewed to put it on a par with Opera North’s funding level of £9.153 million for 2007-08.

Linda Fabiani: Scottish Opera is one of Scotland’s five national performing companies. On 1 April 2007, the Executive took over the Scottish Arts Council’s direct funding role in relation to the companies, with the aim of guaranteeing first class artistic standards whilst ensuring best value for taxpayers money.

  Funding levels for these companies are reviewed annually and are the subject of continuous and joint discussion. Future funding levels have not yet been agreed.

Culture

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to enhance the acquisitions budgets of the national collections.

Linda Fabiani: Ministers will consider all aspects of funding for culture during the Strategic Spending Review 2007.

Debt

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20070 by Hugh Henry on 8 November 2005, how many debt arrangement schemes there have been in each year since 2005.

Fergus Ewing: The statutory Debt Arrangement Scheme came into force on 30 November 2004. There have been 149 debt payment programmes approved in 2005-06 and 113 debt payment programmes approved in 2006-07. There have been 50 debt payment programmes approved between 1 April 2007 and 31 July 2007.

Drug Misuse

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to implement an SNP Manifesto commitment to increase drug rehabilitation services by 20% and, if so, whether it will guarantee this in the 2007 spending review.

Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-1045 on 21 June 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Education

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to ensure that financial education is included in A Curriculum for Excellence; at what stage children would be expected to start such education, and what learning outcomes would be anticipated.

Fiona Hyslop: As part of A Curriculum for Excellence , financial education will be delivered in areas such as mathematics, social studies and health and wellbeing. Draft numeracy outcomes are likely to include an understanding of money at the early level through to comparing, contrasting and explaining preferred choice of financial products at secondary school.

Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 (a) were brought in 2006 and (b) have been brought in 2007, broken down by local authority area.

Right Hon Elish Angiolini QC: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case management database does not record the local authority area in which an offence took place. It does contain information about the sheriff court jurisdiction in which offences took place. The following table shows the number of charges under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 that were reported to procurators fiscal in 2005-06 and 2006-07 where the charge had (at 27 July) been marked for court proceedings.

  Charges: Offences Reported (from May 2005 to March 2007) under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 20051,2,3

  

Sheriff Court Jurisdiction
2005-06
2006-07
Total


Aberdeen
9
16
25


Airdrie
2
-
2


Alloa
-
1
1


Arbroath
1
1
2


Ayr 
6
13
19


Banff
3
-
3


Campbeltown
-
4
4


Cupar
1
1
2


Dingwall
1
-
1


Dumbarton
-
13
13


Dumfries
2
6
8


Dundee
5
15
20


Dunfermline
10
20
30


Dunoon
-
1
1


Duns
4
3
7


Edinburgh
27
61
88


Elgin
3
5
8


Falkirk
2
3
5


Forfar
2
-
2


Glasgow 
72
127
199


Greenock
2
9
11


Haddington
-
4
4


Hamilton
10
20
30


Inverness
4
16
20


Jedburgh
9
1
10


Kilmarnock
21
25
46


Kirkcaldy
4
12
16


Kirkcudbright
1
1
2


Kirkwall
-
1
1


Lanark
1
4
5


Linlithgow
3
11
14


Lochmaddy
1
-
1


Oban
-
1
1


Paisley
10
22
32


Peebles
2
-
2


Perth
4
6
10


Peterhead
1
-
1


Selkirk
24
19
43


Stirling
2
9
11


Stornoway
-
4
4


Stranraer
6
5
11


Wick
-
1
1


Grand Total
255
461
716



  Notes:

  1. The information in the table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a procurator fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.

  2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

  3. The table reflects the position at 27 July 2007.

Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, for each prosecution under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005, it will provide a breakdown of category of emergency worker attacked.

Right Hon Elish Angiolini QC: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case management database does not record the profession or job title of victims in a way that would allow aggregate information to be extracted in the format requested, but the following table gives a breakdown of the charges which have been reported to procurators fiscal, under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 since its introduction in May 2005 and the action taken in respect of those charges.

  Charges: Offences under Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 (from 9 May 2005 to 27 July 2007)1,2,3

  

Section of Act
Court Proceedings
Direct Measures4
No Action5
Under Consideration6
Total


S:1(1) - Assault, obstruct or hinder constable/fire officer/person providing assistance in terms of S:35 or S:36 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005/ambulance worker
174
12
9
1
196


S:2(1) - Assault, obstruct or hinder other emergency workers responding to emergency circumstances
277
19
14
16
326


S:3(1) - Assault, obstruct or hinder person assisting emergency worker responding to emergency circumstances
14
1
7
-
22


S:5(1) - Assault, obstruct or hinder health worker/ambulance worker/assistant to said workers on hospital premises
401
7
37
12
457


Grand Total
866
39
67
29
1,001



  Notes:

  1. The information in the table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a procurator fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.

  2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

  3. The table reflects the position at 27 July 2007.

  4. "Direct Measures" relates to charges where action was taken but the action did not involve court proceedings. This action may have involved the offer of a fiscal fine, the issue of a warning letter or a reference to the Reporter to the Children’s Panel.

  5. "No Action" relates to charges where the procurator fiscal concluded, following careful consideration of the report, that no action should be taken.

  6. "Under Consideration" relates to charges where, as at 27 July, a decision had yet to be made on the appropriate course of action.

Flood Prevention

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to reassess current flood prevention schemes.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Executive is committed to improving its understanding of flooding in Scotland. To this end we commissioned JBA Consulting to undertake the web-based development of the Scottish Asset Database project.

  The aim of the project is to provide a web-based tool to view detailed information on flood prevention schemes and their associated assets within Scotland. The database is a register of fluvial and coastal defences constructed in Scotland under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961, containing detailed records of the assets, the defended areas and number of properties protected. In order to obtain this information a number of flood defences were assessed to establish the condition of the defences and the current standard of protection.

  The Scottish Flood Defence Asset database will be launched shortly enabling flood prevention practitioners and other professionals engaged in flood mitigation and management to use the website as a valuable reference source.

Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to emulate the scale of service user involvement and infrastructure in England in relation to the design and delivery of addiction and harm-reduction services as part of its Patient Focus and Public Involvement initiative.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Executive has no such plans at this time. However, as part of the National Quality Standards for Substance Misuse Services, service users’ views should be sought in order to monitor the type, delivery and development of services.

International Relations

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scotland will continue to be represented in the United States of America through a member of staff based in the UK embassy in Washington.

Linda Fabiani: The First Secretary of Scottish Affairs in the USA is returning to Scotland on promotion to take up other duties in October.

  Consideration is underway on his replacement.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which recommendations of the Sentencing Commission for Scotland’s report, The Scope to Improve Consistency in Sentencing , it intends to accept and what priority it attaches to the recommendations.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scope to Improve Consistency in Sentencing was presented to the previous administration and published in September 2006. It contains 25 recommendations which for the most part pertain to the introduction of a process for giving effect to sentencing guidelines and the creation of a new statutory body which would be responsible for their preparation and presentation for consideration to the Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary.

  We believe that there is a case for sentencing guidelines in order to deliver consistent sentencing and so improve public confidence in the criminal justice system. We are taking forward our consideration of the case for a Sentencing Council but our immediate priority in the context of sentencing is to improve the delivery of community sentences so as to improve judicial and public confidence in them as alternatives to custody.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to establish an advisory panel on sentencing and, if so, within what timescale.

Kenny MacAskill: Scotland at present has no system of sentencing guidelines. We believe that there is a case for guidelines so as to deliver more consistent sentencing and for setting up a Sentencing Council to create them. However, we consider that there needs to be further consultation and dialogue with key interests, principally the judiciary, on the arguments for establishing such a body.

Northern Ireland

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to raise awareness of common cultural and historical links between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government recognises the strong historical and cultural bond that exists between the people of Scotland and Northern Ireland and we are committed to working with the Northern Ireland Assembly government to build on this relationship. The First Minister signed a joint statement with Northern Ireland’s First Minister and Deputy First Minister on June 18 2007 which commits the two governments to consolidating and strengthening the social, educational and cultural relationship between the two countries.

  Historic Scotland are actively engaged in raising awareness of cultural and historic links between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Scottish government is also raising awareness of common cultural and historical links between Scotland and Northern Ireland through the promotion of minority language initiatives. There is significant minority language activity in both Scotland and Northern Ireland at present and frequent contact and discussions take place between both jurisdictions.

Northern Ireland

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to strengthen administrative co-operation with the Northern Ireland Assembly government.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government enjoys good bilateral relations with Northern Ireland. We intend to work together drawing from each other’s strengths and experiences; sharing knowledge where we have a common interest.

Police

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to increase the number of police officers; how many new officers there will be; when they will be available for operational duties, and how they will be allocated, broken down by police force area.

Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-1666 on 26 July 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Pre-School Education

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its promised additional 300 teaching posts will be in pre-school education.

Fiona Hyslop: The deployment of the additional teachers is a matter for local authorities within the broad parameters we have set of employment in the early years or P1 to P3.

Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to bring the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 into force.

Adam Ingram: The Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 is intended to deliver a modern, streamlined, efficient and effective vetting and barring system. The legislation will come into force once all the constituent elements are in place to ensure that that is what is delivered. This necessarily involves the development of processes and IT systems, a comprehensive programme of consultation and secondary legislation and guidance and training for users prior to the system going live. A substantial implementation programme has already begun but it is too early in that process to be definitive about when the legislation will come into force. We will keep the Scottish Parliament and stakeholders informed of progress and planned commencement dates through regular reports.

Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funds it will provide to the voluntary sector to implement the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (a) for training, (b) for carrying out disclosure checks on any existing staff members that will be within the scope of the Act, (c) for administration costs for organisations within the scope of the scheme, (d) for any increase in the fee level for an initial disclosure check and (e) in total.

Adam Ingram: We are committed to ensuring that the implementation of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 is carefully managed and that all sectors and users are supported through the transition from the existing multiple disclosure regime to the new modern, streamlined, efficient and effective vetting and barring system. It is recognised that this is of particular relevance to the voluntary sector especially small, voluntary organisations. As implementation plans are developed and advanced, careful consideration will be given to specific and aggregate funding required for this sector and we will keep the Scottish Parliament and stakeholders informed of progress and plans through regular reports.

Road Accidents

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that serious injuries to victims in road traffic incidents should be included in any subsequent criminal charges for road traffic offences.

Right Hon Elish Angiolini QC: The Procurator Fiscal is entitled to include details of the consequences of driving, including injury, in charges of dangerous or careless driving in order to allow the court to consider these consequences in assessing whether the driving was dangerous or careless. At present death can only be included in charges relating to causing death by dangerous driving or by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, but the Road Safety Act 2006 will in future allow prosecutors to bring charges for causing death by careless driving, or while unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured.

School Meals

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children will be involved in the free school meals pilot in Glasgow, broken down by primary school.

Adam Ingram: We do not have information on predicted school rolls for the coming year. School rolls by stage for the last academic year are available on the Scottish Executive website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/16412/PupilsByStageAtSep06 .

School Meals

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children in each Glasgow primary school who will be involved in the free school meals pilot were not previously entitled to free school meals.

Adam Ingram: We do not have information on predicted school rolls for the coming year. The most recent school meals data, including the number of pupils previously entitled to free school meals, is available on the Scottish Executive website at www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/SchMeals2007 .

St Andrew's Day

Nicol Stephen (Aberdeen South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will introduce legislation to confirm St Andrew’s Day as a full national holiday.

Linda Fabiani: There is no requirement to introduce further legislation to confirm St Andrew’s Day as a national holiday. The St Andrew’s Day Holiday (Scotland) Bill passed by Parliament on 30 November 2006 added St Andrew’s Day to the list of statutory bank holidays in Schedule 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971.

  We will engage with employee organisations and trade unions to encourage them to negotiate with their employees to come to a decision on St Andrew’s Day and how best to celebrate Scotland’s national day.

Teachers

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total number of teachers will be when its promised additional 300 posts are filled.

Fiona Hyslop: The teacher census conducted in September every year will provide information on the total number of teachers employed at that time. The current estimate is that with the promised additional 300 posts teacher numbers may reach over 54,000 full-time equivalent at that time. It should be noted, however, that the total number of teachers employed by local authorities is in a constant state of flux due to teachers entering and leaving the profession as part of a normal turnover of staff.

Teachers

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when its promised additional 300 teachers will be in post.

Fiona Hyslop: Funding has been provided to authorities to employ 300 additional teachers. Authorities will need to formulate plans for their deployment and the timing of their employment will be a matter for each authority although we are aware that teachers have been offered posts in recent weeks, made available by the Scottish Government’s recent announcement of extra funding for the employment of teachers. We will monitor the employment of these teachers through the National Priorities Action Fund.

Teachers

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional teachers will be employed by each local authority as a result of its promised additional 300 teaching posts.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Executive has provided funding for 300 additional teaching posts. The exact number employed by each local authority will be determined at local level and be influenced by such factors as the placement of individual teachers on the teachers’ salary scale.

Young People

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to reduce the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training.

Fiona Hyslop: Early intervention is critical to reducing the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training – identifying those who are most at risk of disengaging and targeting the support they need. We must also ensure that the right learning experiences are available to young people.

  We are working closely with a range of partners, including local authorities, Careers Scotland, colleges, the voluntary sector, and employers to understand these young people’s needs and ensure that the opportunities and support available to them are right.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Environment

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what information is available about carbon emissions from the Parliament building and what plans are in place to reduce emissions.

Alex Johnstone: The gas and electricity used in the Scottish Parliament building resulted in the emission of 328 tonnes of carbon in 2005-06 and 232 tonnes in 2006-07. In October 2005, the SPBC agreed an environmental policy which includes an objective to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

  In order to help achieve this objective, a large range of actions have been undertaken to reduce the emissions directly attributed to the running of the building. A study was undertaken by the Carbon Trust to identify where energy use could be reduced and, based on this information, a target was set to reduce use by 8 per cent by March 2009. This target is on course to be met with a 3 per cent reduction achieved by March 2007. Progress towards the target will continue through a combination of:

  encouraging all building users to follow good practice by turning off equipment and lights, refinements to the operation of the building management and lighting management systems, and the installation of more efficient lighting and equipment. In October 2006, the Parliament moved from purchasing electricity generated from 80% renewable sources to 100% renewable sources, resulting in a significant reduction of 76 tonnes in carbon emissions. Indirect emissions resulting from travel and transport, waste and procurement are also being addressed through initiatives to reduce deliveries to the Parliament, to encourage staff to travel by sustainable modes, to prevent and minimise waste and to purchase sustainable goods such as recycled paper. We are also currently working towards calculating the Parliament’s ecological footprint and carbon footprint and are investigating the feasibility of setting a target to become carbon neutral as well as the costs and benefits of carbon offsetting.

  Tonnes of Carbon Emitted

  

 
2005-06
2006-07


Electricity
155
78


Gas
174
155


Total
328
232